 JAMES CHRISTIAN 'MEET THE MAN'
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
'Meet the man' is the new album of lead vocalist JAMES
CHRISTIAN (HOUSE OF LORDS), although most of the songs
were written in the late 80s (Randall/Dewitt), but I
believe all the songs were recently re-recorded. Most of
these songs have been circulating through the underground
AOR scene, mostly as demo CDRs, so it is good to finally
see an official CD release of these AOR gems, because
most of the included songs are basically fantastic pure
late 80s AOR (that typical sound which made MICHAEL
BOLTON, CHER, STARSHIP etc. very famous back in the day).
Highlights among the 11 tracks are the uptempo AOR
rockers "After the love has gone" and
"Know you in the dark" (a classic, although I
still think the demo version is better), the midtempo AOR
pieces "Leave well enough alone" and
"Circle of tears", and the wonderful semi
ballad "End of time". This album sounds like a
perfect late 80s AOR record, so fans of let's say SIGNAL,
ALIAS, MARK FREE, UNRULY CHILD etc. will absolutely love
this album!
(Points:
8.9 out of 10)
SALEM
HILL
‘PE’ (PROGROCK RECORDS)
The Progressive Rockband SALEM HILL were probably keen on
releasing a real full-length CD, because with 15 tracks
and a playing time of 71 minutes you get value for your
money, especially if you also get to hear high quality
progressive rockmusic in the style of RUSH, THE FLOWER
KINGS, NEAL MORSE and SPOCK’S BEARD, although there
are also strong BEATLES influences here and there. No
doubt about the fact that this new SALEM HILL CD is the
kind of album all Progressive Rockfans would like to hear
it, because the musicianship of the band is of a very
high level (both instrumental and vocally, but also the
songstructures and melodies of the songs sound quite
perfect. Songs like “track 3” (songtitles are
in the wrong order, so I’ll mention a songnumber
when I’m unsure what the title of the song is),
“The red pool” (a more straight-ahead rocker),
“track 8”, “track 12” and “track
14” are absolute winners for the prog perfectionist.
In the end, this is a great progressive rockalbum, which
I can highly recommend to all those RUSH, FLOWER KINGS
and SPOCK’S BEARD out there! More info at: http://www.progrockrecords.com
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
SYLVAN ‘X-RAYED’
(PROGROCK RECORDS)
We recently reviewed the new SYLVAN CD, but this is the
US release, which doesn’t contain any bonustracks,
so here follows the original review; The German Neo-Prog
band SYLVAN returns with yet another new CD. The album is
titled ‘X-rayed’ and it is quite remarkable
that the band continues developing their own style. They
started as a typical Neo-Progressive Rockband, but
through the years and especially on the previous and now
on the new CD ‘X-rayed’ the band has created an
own style, which is a bit comparable to a rougher
unpolished JADIS, so peaceful melodic progressive
pop/rock with a slight modern touch, a bit the same thing
MARILLION has been doing after FISH left, but still with
an own identity. The new album contains 68 minutes of
quality music, performed during 10 tracks, some quite
lengthy, and a few shorter tracks. I have to say that
some tracks are also a bit leaning towards Alternative
Rock (a la RADIOHEAD) such as on “Through my
eyes”, but the album still can be seen as a Prog
related work. If you enjoyed the previous SYLVAN CD, you
will definitely love this record too, because it contains
some great typical SYLVAN tunes like “So easy”,
“Belated gift”, “Given – used –
forgotten” and “This world is not for me”.
Check out their website at: http://www.sylvan.de and e-mail them at: mail@sylvan.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
CHATEAU ‘PSYCHOTIC
SYMPHONY’ (TWILIGHT VERTRIEB)
CHATEAU is a German band, and their CD ‘Psychotic
symphony’ was mastered at the famous Morrisound
Studios in Florida, USA (SAVATAGE), so basically we are
dealing here with something very professional. Happily
also the music is very impressive, because the Melodic
(Progressive) Metal of CHATEAU is of a very high level.
Their lead singer Eric Weise has a fantastic high pitched
voice (like a cross between JAMES LABRIE and GEOFF TATE,
although not always at the same high level as those
legendary singers), and some of the 10 songs on the CD
sound very sensational as well. The band sounds like a
mix between AXXIS, EDGUY and AT VANCE, with also a lot of
80s US Power/ProgMetal influences, which brings sometimes
similarities to CRIMSON GLORY and QUEENSRYCHE in their
very early days. Uptempo melodic heavy rock/metalsongs
like “The dragon’s heart”, “Psychotic
symphony”, “No friend of mine” and
“Free to be me” are all sounding very good.
This is a CD, which easily stands out between the
majority of other releases in the Prog/Power Metal genre.
Check out their website at: http://www.chateau-metal.de The CD is available
through: http://www.twilight-vertrieb.com
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
TALON/STAN
BUSH ‘LIVE
AT THE GODS 2003 DVDR’ (INDEPENDENT DVDR)
These 2 DVDRs recently made available are no official
releases, so they look rather cheap and can nowhere near
be compared to the JEFF SCOTT SOTO DVD released a few
months ago on FRONTIERS RECORDS. Nevertheless, for a true
fan of STAN BUSH and TALON, these DVDRs are nice to own,
but don’t expect a A+ quality recording and footage,
because both DVDRs are mostly recorded with a cheap
handcamera, so both performances these acts did at the
Gods of AOR festival in 2003 are shot with one camera
only. Also the sound is poor, but all together it’s
fair enough to watch the show if you didn’t see any
of them ever live, because that’s the whole idea of
these DVDRs released to the public. Both the TALON and
STAN BUSH DVDR have a laying time of 60 minutes, which
contains short pre- and aftershow footage and the whole
concert performed by each act. STAN BUSH live is amazing,
because the man sings just like on his record, while his
backing band (TALON) played the classics of STAN BUSH
easily. It’s really nice to finally see STAN BUSH
live, because that doesn’t happen too often. The
concert of TALON is slightly shorter, and they prove to
be a great melodic hardrockband. It’s a pity both
DVDRs are not mixed professionally, because then we could
have had a good addition to the JEFF SCOTT SOTO Gods DVD.
Now it’s only a must for the absolute die-hard fans
of STAN BUSH and TALON, who don’t mind average
sounds/footage and absolutely no artwork, just a plain
DVDR that’s all you get... More info through e-mail
at: jppparker@earthlink.net
(Points:
-)
KILLER
DWARFS ‘REUNION
OF SCRIBES DVD’ (BULLSEYE RECORDS)
This DVD of the Canadian band KILLER DWARFS was released
back in 2002, but it’s the first time a review
appears over here. Without a doubt, this is a
professional DVD, although no extra’s are included.
However, what you basically get is a fantastic
performance the band gave in their hometown of Toronto on
August 29, 2001. 13 songs were played, and it sounded as
good as on their 1980s records, so basically very strong
Melodic Hardrock with the strong lead vocals of RUSS
DWARF. Highlights include uptempo melodic rockers like
“Believe in me”, “Last laugh”,
“Keep the spirit alive”, “All that we
dream” and “Nothin’ gets
nothin’”. The sound and footage of the concert
is very good, so I can recommend this DVD to anyone 80s
Hard/Hair-Metalfreak! You can buy the CD through http://www.bullseyecanada.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
TUFF ‘DVDs’ (RLS
RECORDS)
The American Hair Rock/Metalband TUFF released no less
than 4 DVDs recently, which basically contain about every
video footage available from this band, who were about to
breakthrough when Grunge came along in the early 90s.
Nevertheless, these DVDs show a band that worked hard to
get some attention outside of the Underground scene. The
first DVD is settled around ‘What comes
around...’, their debut album from 1991. The DVD
contains 7 videos the band made, and also some raw live
and tour footage. The DVD itself was originally released
as video back in 1991, and takes up to 60 minutes of
playing time. The next DVD is ‘Religious fix –
the videos’, which is another original homevideo put
onto DVD. The DVD is a combination of raw tour footage
and videos (3) of songs from their ‘First
first’ album. Also this DVD has a playing time of 60
minutes. Moving on to the DVD ‘Decade of distant
memories’, which is a 2-hour DVD featuring lots of
rare material from TUFF, as well as a bunch of (live)
videos. The sound quality is not always that good, but
for a dedicated TUFF fan I can guarantee that this is
(just like the other DVDs) a must-have. The best and
rarest DVD has got to be ‘Rock’n’ rarities
– the videos’, which is a DVD that contains a
lot of rare video footage, recorded between 1987 and
1995. All sorts of rare club performances can be seen
dating back to the late 80s, TV appearances and even more
club dates. This DVD is definitely the best of the 4,
mainly because of the unique material shown, but the
quality of the recordings is not always perfect, some
very amateur orientated video footage, but cool to watch
anyway. You can buy any of the DVDs through:
http://www.TuffCds.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
NECRONOMICON
‘CONSTRUCTION
OF EVIL’ (REMEDY RECORDS/ROCK INC)
NECRONOMICON is a legendary German band, whom started
playing Thrash Metal some 20 years ago. They have been
away for a while, but with ‘Construction of
evil’ they make a return to the scene. It’s
their first CD release since 1995’s
‘Screams’. Musically nothing has changed and
still play fast brutal Thrash-Metal (with also a strong
typical German fast Power Metal approach) like a mix
between GRAVE DIGGER, TANKARD and KREATOR. The CD was
produced by Achim Kohler (PRIMAL FEAR, SINNER, SYMPHORCE)
and contains in total 14 songs, and a video clip of the
song “Terrorist
attack”. Fans of the cult-band will love this new
record, which has it’s finest moments in the shape
of “Hard pain”, “From Hell” and
“Fireball”.
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
SARISSA ‘MASTERS OF
SINS’ (BLACK LOTUS RECORDS/ROCK INC)
Some 20 years ago the Greek band SARISSA started, and all
this time they only managed to release 2 independent
albums, although they were close signing a deal with
MODERN MUSIC in the late 80s. We are now in the year 2004
and the band has finally released an official label CD.
The CD is titled ‘Masters of sins’ and after a
few spins I can inform you that it’s a very
sensational melodic progressive metal release. 10 songs
are included, of which the best are “The ancient
land falls”, “Masters of sins”,
“Envious critics” and “The struggle”.
The band has a fantastic lead singer (Nick Iglezos) and
multi-instrumentalist Jim A.D. Selalmazidis is playing
the guitar, bass and keys very well. Besides, the CD has
a fantastic big Melodic Progmetalsound, which you mostly
only get to hear from US, German or UK bands. SARISSA are
however coming out of Greece and I can highly recommend
their wonderful CD ‘Masters of sins’ to fans of
FATES WARNING, QUEENSRYCHE, DREAM THEATER, VANDENPLAS,
THRESHOLD...
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
DEDICATION
‘REFLECTIONS
OF TIME’ (UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY RECORDS/BERTUS)
Out of Sweden comes DEDICATION, another typical European
Melodic Metalband. Their CD has been released on the
Italian label UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY RECORDS and although
some might say it sounds very cliche, I think this
DEDICATION has come up with a very strong release.
Musically it is not the typical Italo Power Metal like
you would expect on the Italian label, but this CD has a
more Melodic (Hard) Rock approach (a la TNT). Songs like
“Heroes of the sky”, “Broken glass”
(fantastic), “Elusive dreams” (lovely midtempo,
even a bit JADED HEART) and “Fire and ice” are
very strong melodic heavy rocksongs like TNT, AXXIS and
early ELEGY, mixed with some MAIDEN. Concluded, a great
album by another new Swedish band, more info at: http://www.dedication.se
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘BREAKING
THE SILENCE VOLUME 1’ (TWILIGHT VERTRIEB)
Germany is known for bringing so many different
Metalbands, and although not every band is interesting,
you can not deny the big Metalscene. There is now a CD
available, which presents us 15 German bands, whom each
perform one song on this CD. The styles range from
Melodic, Prog, Power, Thrash, Black to Death Metal, and
of course we mainly focus on the Melodic side. In this
genre we can find some interesting Power/Prog Metalbands
like MINDCRIME, LAYMENT, THARSYS, CHRYSALIS, ORDEN ORGAN
(best band, recently reviewed), VOODOMA and IRONY (great
band from Heidelberg, a la EDGUY) and . It would be a
good thing to release more of such compilation CDs, so
people can get to learn some of the unknown Metalbands.
The CD is available through: http://www.twilight-vertrieb.com
(Points:
-)
SEVENTH
ONE
‘WHAT SHOULD NOT BE’ (ARMAGEDDON MUSIC/ROCK
INC)
Out of Sweden comes yet another sensational Power
Metalband. They already released an album on MASSACRE
RECORDS, which somehow didn’t reach me a few years
ago. Nevertheless, this new CD of SEVENTH ONE is a very
impressive Melodic Power Metalrelease in the style of
NOCTURNAL RITES, DREAM EVIL and ICED EARTH. The CD has a
big sound, and the 9 included songs are a total must for
all the True Metalfans! Songs like “Eyes of the
nation”, “Mercenaries call”, “Gallows
pole”, “What should not be” and
“Awaken visions” (ballad!) are all very strong
Power Metalsongs with big choruses to sing-a-long with
and huge guitarwork. Definitely a must-have for the Metal
Warriors out there!
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
ODYSSEA
‘TEARS
IN FLOODS’ (SCARLET RECORDS/BERTUS)
Here we go again!!!! ODYSSEA comes out of Italy and they
play typical Italo Power Metal like we have already heard
it before from LABYRINTH and VISION DIVINE and thousands
of others. However, there is something different about
this new band. The band features LABYRINTH guitarist PIER
GONELLA and even LABYRINTH singer Rob Tiranti (Tyrant)
contributes on 1 song. That song is the fantastic fast
melodic power metal song “Fly”, which is by far
the best song on offer here, partly due to the vocals of
Rob, who is a fantastic singer. The rest is sung by
vocalist Carlo Faraci, who of course isn’t of the
same high level as Rob, but as the CD develops he proves
he is also a very skilled singer after all. Although the
info sheet mentions that ODYSSEA is doing something
really different than the usual Italo Power Metal style,
that first song “Fly” sums up everything
Italian Metal stood for the past 10 years, fast, melodic
and happy sing-a-long music, but happily it is done very
well, so it is indeed better than the thousand of other
Italo LABYRINTH wannabies out there at the moment. What
about the rest of the CD? Well, it follows the same path,
and it is indeed sounding a lot like LABYRINTH and VISION
DIVINE, but somehow it does sound convincing and very
impressive. Again, nothing new is brought here, but
it’s all done so perfectly like those Italian bands
are able to do it, you can not ignore it. Songs like
“The king”, “Burning time”,
“Tears in floods (part 2)” (AOR meets Italo
Power Metal) and “Angel cries” are fantastic
Italo Happy Power Metal tunes, which will please all the
LABYRINTH,
WONDERLAND, RHAPSODY and VISION DIVINE fans out there!
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
KAMINARI
‘FARADAY’S
DAYDREAM’ (PREVISION MUSIC/TWILIGHT VERTRIEB)
At first I thought KAMINARI was a Japanese band, but
don’t let the bandname and CD cover fool ya, because
KAMINARI are coming out of Germany. They released their
debut CD on a new recordlabel (PREVISION MUSIC). The
album was produced very well by the band and ACHIM KOHLER
(PRIMAL FEAR, SINNER, BRAINSTORM). The sound is huge and
musically we get to hear some awesome Melodic Power Metal
in typical German tradition. It’s like a
thunderstorm that’s coming over you when hitting the
play button on your CD player! ‘Thunderstorm’
by the way is the English translation of the Japanese
word KAMINARI. Although during the start of the CD there
are some strong similarities to PRIMAL FEAR and SINNER on
such great Melodic Metal pieces like “Vampire
vanity” and “Eye-borg”, most of the rest
of the CD the band also throws in a lot of Melodic
Hardrock influences into their songs, such as in the
awesome songs “Philip Marlowe”, “Guardian
angel”, “Stairway to the galaxy” and
“My black colors” (big harmonyvocals during the
catchy chorus!), which reveal influences from SAXON, UFO
and SCORPIONS. Basically this is another great German
band, mixing Melodic Hardrock and Metal into an exciting
style, which will please all fans of bands like STEELER,
VICTORY and PRIMAL FEAR. Check out their site at: http://www.kaminari-music.de
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
THUNDER
REIGNS
‘SHADOWS VIDEO VCR’ (DVDR)
‘Shadows’ is the song on which the whole DVDR
of the American band THUNDER REIGNS is based. The song is
featured as mp3 and videoclip on this DVDR, so the band
made a video of their new song, which is a good thing, as
then we can see the people behind the song. Musically
it’s a pure US Power Metalsong in the style of METAL
CHURCH, ARMORED SAINT, SYMPHORCE, NEVERMORE, SEVEN
WITCHES and SAVATAGE. Guitarist Mark Trueit is a very
talented guitarist, and lead singer Mike Hutchings has a
got a strong typical Metalvoice, although my only comment
on the track would be the mixing, because sometimes the
vocals are pushed a bit too much to the back.
Nevertheless, a great video, which should be played on
MTV instead of all the Nu-Metal crap. Check out THUNDER
REIGNS at: http://www.thunderreigns.com where you can download
the video, and e-mail the band at: metal411_247-TR@yahoo.com
(Points:
-)
 VENI DOMINE ‘4’ (RIVEL
RECORDS/BERTUS)
The Swedish Christian Metalband VENI DOMINE has been
releasing albums since 1992, and ‘4’ is like
the title states their 4th CD so far. The band is playing
a mix of Doom and Progressive Metal like a mix between
80s QUEENSRYCHE, SAVATAGE, VIRGIN STEELE and CANDLEMASS.
They have a very good lead singer (Fredrik Sjoholm), who
was ill a few years ago when the band started recording
this CD, so therefore it took a little longer. They even
started the writing process for ‘4’ in 1997, so
in the end it took VENI DOMINE 7 years to finally release
a new CD, but the result might just be their best effort
so far. The vocals sound very good, so is the guitarwork
and also the 11 included tracks are a must to hear if
you’re into any of the mentioned bands. The
similarities to 80s QUEENSRYCHE are very clear in a song
like “Doom of man”, although this song might
also be seen as a Doom Metal song, but however the QR
vibe is very strong. The highlights on this new VENI
DOMINE CD are “Waiting for the blood red sky”,
“Eli lema sabachtani”, “Voice of
creation” and “The river of life 1”.
Concluded, this is the best VENI DOMINE CD so far and
highly recommended to both the Doom and Progmetalfans out
there.
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
THE
TANGENT ‘II:
THE WORLD THAT WE DRIVE THROUGH’ (INSIDE OUT
MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
THE TANGENT is a project between some of the big names in
the Progrockscenes from the UK and Sweden. Musically it
is a sort of 70s retro progresive rocksoundwe get to hear
like a mix between THE FLOWER KINGS, PORCUPINE TREE and
PARALLEL OF 90 DEGREES, so slightly experimental and with
a saxplayer in their line-up not the typical
progrockband. In fact, THE TANGENT consists of 7 members,
among which the most well-known is of course ROIN E STOLT
from THE FLOWER KINGS on guitars and vocals. Only 5 songs
are included, but like you would expect from a progband,
these are 5
very long songs, with the CD still having a playing time
of almost 70 minutes (!). For the die-hard progfans this
is definitely a must to hear, especially the songs
“A gap in the night” and “The world we
drive through”. However, I would not call this
release something outstanding, or a must-have release,
just a basic progrockalbum...
(Points:
7.9 out of 10)
THE
JELLY JAM ‘2’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
Although I am myself not such a big KING’S X fan, I
must admit that they had their own style, which now lives
on in the shape of JELLY JAM, a project set up by
KING’S X vocalist/guitarist Ty Tabor and further
featuring John Myung (DREAM THEATER) on bass and Rod
Morgenstein (DIXIE DREGS) on drums. The new CD of THE
JELLY JAM is once again filled with music that combines
all sorts of elements, although mostly borrowed from 70s
groovy hardrock, progressive rock, Nu-Breed Poprock and
psxchedelic rock. The band has a big raw groovy
guitarsound and psychedelic lead and harmonyvocals that
both heavily relate to the early 70s. Songs like
“Not today”, “Coming round” and
“Allison” are songs that will be loved by
KING’S X fans. A little more melodic are songs like
“She was alone”, “Angel or devil” and
“You don’t need me anymore”, which all go
into a more modern progressive rockstyle (a la ENCHANT).
However a song like “War is...” is someting
completely different, as this is typical Nu-Breed Poprock
like so many bands produce these days in the USA. Anyway,
a very diverse album, which is highly recommended to all
KING’S X fans out there!
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
S.A. ‘SAMURAI
ATTACK’ (PINEAPPLE RECORDS/CHERRY RED RECORDS)
Ever heard of a Japanese Punkband, well that’s what
this S.A. is all about. We are not related to Punkbands,
but every now and then there are some good bands in this
genre, although it seems like the best ones came out of
the Uk and USA back in the late 70s (THE BOYS, RAMONES,
DEAD KENNEDYS, GENERATION X). This S.A. comes out of
Japan and happens to be one of the new hopes for Japanese
Punk, but all I can add is that their 20 songs are short,
fast and heavy, mostly SEX PISTOLS rip off tunes, so not
really interesting. Only interesting for Punkfans!
(Points:
4.9 out of 10)
ESPIRITU
‘FRONTERAS
MAGICAS’ (GRANDIL RECORDS)
Out of Argentina comes the Progressive Rockband ESPIRITU.
Their CD ‘Fronteras magicas’ is one of those
typical Latin Progrock releases with some beautiful vocal
melodies, nice keyboards and great guitarwork (a bit
jazzy a la NEAL SCHON). 12 songs are included, and
especially “Sin fronteras”, “Una
palabre” (very relaxing calmer prog), “Nada que
decirte” (bit AORish) and “Ciudad de
locos” are highly recommended Melodic Progressive
Rocksongs like a mix between ENCHANT and THE FLOWER
KINGS, yet with Spanish lyrics. More info on this great
South-American band at: http://www.espiriturock.com.ar and e-mail them at: info@espiriturock.com.ar
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
PAIN
OF SALVATION ‘BE’ (INSIDE OUT
MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
PAIN OF SALVATION is another one of those bands you love
or hate, and also an example of a band which is praised
for it’s innovative actions on each album, but is in
fact a band that never comes up with something memorable.
The Swedish band has delivered another new CD in the
shape of ‘Be’, a pure concept-album, but it
should not be seen as progmetal concept album, because
most of the time this CD has not much to do with Rock or
Metal in general. The first couple of songs sound like
intro’s, and later on all sorts of musical styles
are revealed. The only song that comes close to a
progmetalsong is the wonderful “Iter impius”.
The concept idea is very interesting, which deals around
the human beings on earth, but musically it is nothing
special. Only for those die-hard progfans (I know many
count this band as their favourite act, but I think they
sound way too modern and use a lot of Nu-Metal into their
music), who are interested in checking out a new (even
more experimental than usual) CD by the overated band
PAIN OF SALVATION.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 ANYONE’S DAUGHTER ‘WRONG’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
The legendary German Sympho/Progressive Rockband
ANYONE’S DAUGHTER has been on the scene ever since
the mid 1970s, and they can be mentioned alongside all
those other 70s progressive/symphonic rockbands from
Germany (JANE, ELOY, RAMSES etc.). ‘Wrong’ is
their 2nd comeback album since 1984, although the
previous album ‘Danger world’ sounded slightly
different (poppier and more modern), so ‘Wrong’
is the actual return to their classic 70s
symphonic/progressive rocksound. The first 2 songs show
directly that this ANYONE’S DAUGHTER is one of the
better German progressive rockbands. Both “The
wrong” and “Miscellaneous” are awesome
melodic progressive rockers in the best 70s style (KANSAS
meets KAYAK). Of course the rest of the CD is also very
impressive, with as other highlights “Your
time” (uptempo Synpho rocker), “Helios
reloaded” (complicated progrocker) and the wonderful
AOR ballad “Without you”. So, the CD also
reveals some AOR/Pomprock influences (such as in
“Happy go lucky”) and besides the fact that the
band has a strong big melodic progressive rocksound, most
remarkable in ANYONE’S DAUGHTER is their superb lead
singer (Andre Carswell), who proves he is an amazing lead
singer. Andre comes out of the USA and has been with the
band since they made a comeback in 2001 with the album
‘Danger world’. Anyway, this CD is filled with
some very high class progressive rock. Concluded, a total
must-have for all the symphonic/progressive rockfans,
especially those who are into bands like JANE, ELOY,
RAMSES and of course A NYONE’S DAUGHTER!
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
 SAXON ‘LIONHEART’
(SPV)
It’s been 25 years since the legendary UK metalband
SAXON released their debut album, and they have built a
big reputation during this period. Now they return with
the new CD ‘Lionheart’, a typical SAXON record
which contains classic NWOBHM orientated material (such
as opener “Witchfinder general” which even
reveals some PRIEST influences) and Melodic
Heavy/Hardrock. It’s a very powerful album that
somehow also has a strong German Hardrock/Metal approach
(just listen to the ACCEPTish “Man and
machine”), but most of the time this is the SAXON
like the fans want to hear them. The highlights are the
melodic heavy rockers “Man and machine”,
“Lionheart” (very strong song), “To live
by the sword” (True Metal anthem!) and
“Searching for Atlantis” (very melodic midtempo
piece). Every SAXON fan will be pleased with this new CD
of the band, although it doesn’t reach the high
level of the early 80s days, it’s still a great
SAXON record, which is their best in years, so better
check it out if you’re a True Hardrock/Metalfan!
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
GLENROCK
‘3
MINUTES OF SILENCE’ (BRENNUS RECORDS)
The French band GLENROCK returns with a new CD release
titled ‘3 minutes of silence’. The band’s
musicstyle hasn’t changed and although it does sound
good, I am afraid it will not be noticed between the
thousands of other melodic heavy rock/metal releases done
very year. 9 songs are included, and like I already
mentioned, the musicstyle is melodic heavy rock/metal
which reminds me a lot of AXXIS. Songs like “Winds
of the sea”, “3 minutes of silence” and
“Our war cry” are good uptempo heavy rockers,
but still it feels like I am missing something catchy in
the recordings of GLENROCK. However, check it out if
you’re a die-hard melodic heavy rock/metalfan!
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
PHENIX
‘WINGS
OF FIRE’ (BRENNUS RECORDS)
The French band PHENIX was formed 4 years ago, and
‘Wings of fire’ is their 2nd CD so far.
Musically they play good strong traditional 80s
influenced guitar orientated True Metal with a lot of
influences from MANOWAR and HAMMERFALL, but also focusing
on some more Melodic Hardrock orientated material here
and there. The band has a superb lead singer (Bertrand
Gramond), who is definitely the most remarkable member in
the band. He is giving PHENIX’s music a big push
forward and also level up the rating of their new CD.
Most of the 13 included songs are quite strong and I can
easily say that PHENIX has come up with a strong record
that can easily compete with other MANOWAR like bands
such as MAJESTY. Songs like “Trial by fire”,
“Blood in the arena”, “Still believe”
and “Time to live” are great uptempo melodic
hardrock/metal pieces, while the more midtempo orientated
material is also quite impressive (especially
“Guardians of Metal” and “The quest goed
ever on...”). Finally, the band also managed to
record a song in the true MANOWAR “Black wind, fire
and steel” style, namely the fast uptempo True Power
Metal piece “Firewings”. Concluded, a must-have
CD for every True Metalfan!
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
 SAGA ‘NETWORK’
(SPV)
The Canadian Symphonic Melodic Rockband SAGA has been
doing a lot of new releases the past 5 years. In this
period we saw the release of 4 new Studio-CDs (also
counting this new record), a few DVD releases, a greatest
hits and live release. Now it’s time to talk about a
complete new studio-CD ‘Network’, which I think
is one of their strongest release since their early 80s
masterpieces. The band had to call in a replacement for
original drummer Steve Negus, who took some time off, but
instead we get to hear a great replacement in the shape
of Christian Simpson, who happens to be a very skilled
old-fashioned Hardrockish drummer. It seems like this new
SAGA CD is a step into a real Rock style, because
‘Network’ sounds more than ever like a pure
Melodic Rock record, but still capturing the true SAGA
touch. 10 songs are included, of which I would like to
mention as highlights “On the air”, “Keep
it reel”, “I’m back” and
“Don’t make a sound” (best song), all
great uptempo melodic rockers. Although the CD starts
very rocking, it gets a bit more semi-ballad orientated
in the middle part, and also slightly weaker towards the
end, although the closing track “Don’t make a
sound” is one of the best SAGA songs in years!
Anyway, the semi-ballads are also quite nice, especially
the emotional “Believe”. Concluded, this new
SAGA CD has a much rockier sound, bigger drumsound, heavy
guitar riffs and like always some really fantastic
melodic (prog) rockers. Not only a must-have for the SAGA
fans, but also melodic rockfans can easily check out this
great new album of the legendary Canadian band...
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
SNAKERYDER
‘D.O.A.’
(Z RECORDS)
SNAKERYDER is a new band from New Jersey, USA and they
play good old 80s LA Party/Hardrock’n’roll in
the style of QUIET RIOT, WASP, CRUE, DIRTY LOOKS, RATT...
There are no surprises here, but still fans of quality
80s Hardrock will love this a lot, and as best tracks I
should mention “Got no time for romance” (good
late 80s Y&Tish rocker), “Love it bites”
(catchy melodic rocker) “Don’t wanna let
go” (fantastic pure late 80s strong melodic
rockballad, radio-ready US 1989 a la WARRANT, FIREHOUSE,
WINGER, with a very strong chorus and classy guitarsolo),
“There’s a price you have to pay” (uptempo
catchy melodic rocker) and “Danger zone”
(SUPERB strong DOKKENish melodic rocker, but also pure Y
AND T ‘Contagious’). The band’s lead
singer reminds me a lot of DAVE MENIKETTI, but the music
is like a commercial version of late 80s Y AND T
‘Contagious’ period. Without a doubt a high
quality release from the US of A! Check it out if
you’re a fan of one of the mentioned bands... More
info at: http://www.snakeryder.com
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
GATLING
GUN ‘TASTE
OF 80S’ (ONLY MUSIC)
The Italian band GATLING GUN is clearly influenced by the
80s, because their music sounds like a cross between
TWISTED SISTER, WASP and MOTLEY CRUE. This is 80s US
Party Metal with catchy singable choruses. Although
it’s all done at demo level, with a weaker
production, the 4 songs on this mini-CD show that this is
a good band playing their music quite well. Their
guitarists definitely knows how to play the guitar very
well (sadly one of them – Frank Abatucci – died
a few years ago) and songs like “Screamers” and
“Born to the devil” are catchy uptempo Melodic
Party Metal songs in the best early 80s CRUE meets early
80s TWISTER SISTER style. The best song has got to be
“Manhattan breakdown”, which is pure 1985
Melodic Hardrock like DOKKEN, WHITE LION and BONFIRE in
their best days. The sound o this song is just so pure
1980s, and also the vocals sound much better than on the
other songs, particularly during the bridge before the
chorus. The sound quality is very diverse, because a few
songs have a bad sound quality, while others are sounding
quite good. Nevertheless, musically this is a nice band
to check out if you like TWISTED SISTER and CRUE. More
info through e-mail at: fabio_metaller@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
CROSS
‘PLAYGROUNDS’
(PROGRESS RECORDS)
The Swedish band CROSS returns with a new CD titled
‘Playgrounds’. Musically we can once again
enjoy the quality Neo-Progressive Rocksound we also heard
on their earlier albums. The Neo-Prog of CROSS should be
compared to the likes of IQ, PENDRAGON and early
MARILLION, so then you can expect long songs with a lot
of melodic instrumental parts (guitars, keys and also
sadly a sax on 2 songs). There are even 3 fully
instrumental songs out of the 7 included. The Neo-prog
fans will love songs like “Let the day
begin...”, “Deja vu”, “...and enter
the game” and the 15 minutes counting closing track
“Mesmerizing enterprize” (which reveals a big
80s sound by the way!), as they reflect that typical IQ
sound every fan of this genre loves so much. I am not
saying CROSS is as good as IQ, but with this new album
they prove to be one of the better bands in the genre
after the leading acts like IQ, ARENA, PENDRAGON and
PALLAS.
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘AFM RECORDS NEW SIGNINGS AND UPCOMING
RELEASES’ (AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC)
This compilation of the German label AFM RECORDS contains
15 bands with each one track and also 7 short videoclips,
so quite a lot if you don’t own any of the AFM
releases. If you own them all, there are still 3 advanced
demos of upcoming albums by AT VANCE, NOSTRADAMEUS and
TARANTULA included. AT VANCE’s “Chained”
is by far the best song on this compilation CD, because
this is a monster midtempo melodic hard/heavy rock piece
with awesome vocal work and classy guitarwork. Looking
forward to the new AT VANCE, which should be out in
January 2005. In the meantime, this is a short taster...
(Points:
- )
ADAM
BOMB ‘BONEYARD’
(Z RECORDS)
ADAM BOMB returns to the scene and musically not much has
changed, although I am not too impressed with the start
of the album, which contains some average Rock/Hardrock.
However, later on the album it gets better with such 80s
inspired Glamrockers like “Shattered smile”,
“Life’s a bitch n then you live”,
“Rock sex city” and “What in the
world” that all sound like a cross between ALICE
COOPER and POISON with even a BILLY IDOL kinda touch here
and there. ADAM BOMB still tries to mix up every 80s
Rockgenre (Glam. Hardrock, Metal) and some Punk into a
fun exciting rockstyle, which works sometimes quite well.
Check it out if you’re a dedicated 80s Rockfreak!
(Points:
7.9 out of 10)
 EUROPE ‘START FROM THE
DARK’
(T&T RECORDS/SANCTUARY/SUBURBAN)
We had to wait for almost 13 years before the Swedish
band EUROPE got together to record a new CD, but now
‘Start from the dark’ is about to be released
to the public. Many dissapointing reviews have already
seen the light of day, but we of Strutter’zine had a
good listen for ya and we can announce that it’s a
very good album, although it sounds somewhat different
than 80s EUROPE, more like a modern version of
‘Prisoners in paradise’. It definitely helps
that the band reunited in it’s true original
line-up, with even JOHN NORUM playing the guitar and he
does that in a very heavy 70s BLACK SABBATH groovy
classic 70s Hardrock kinda way, so a slow dark groovy
heavy sound is coming out of his guitar. 12 songs are
included and opener “Got to have faith” is the
kind of song you hear once and then you think by
yourself: “What kind of song I just listened
to?”, so it’s one of those songs that
doesn’t make any impression. It’s an average
groovy hardrocksong that goes nowhere, and in general it
has not much to do with EUROPE. The following 3 songs are
happily much much better. “Start from the dark”
and “Flames” are both great uptempo melodic
heavy rockers, with a modern twist, but they do sound
quite good actually, although only the (fantastic) chorus
of “Start from the dark” is classic EUROPE. One
song that stands out between the rest of the CD is
“Hero”, which is a classic midtempo EUROPE
semi-ballad (‘Out of this
world’/’Prisoners in paradise’ area), with
a strong sound in general, including a big hook, perfect
vocals and a very catchy AORish chorus, definitely one of
the best songs on the CD and probably the only pure
EUROPE song, with even a nice twin-guitarsound!
Next track “Wake up call” isn’t bad
either, a good uptempo melodic heavy rocker with a strong
chorus, in the same style as “Start from the
dark” and “Flames”. So far so good, except
for that weak opener. Then we get to the first modern
rocksong titled “Reason”, not really a bad
song, but the weakest EUROPE song I heard in years, but
sadly it gets worse on “Song no. 12”, which has
nice BLACK SABBATH guitar riffs, but the song basically
goes nowhere. Much better is the semi-ballad “Roll
with you”, which has a strong EUROPE ‘Prisoners
in paradise’ kinda vibe. One more great uptempo
melodic heavy rocker is “Sucker” which is pure
HAREM SCAREM actually, although the only negative thing
is the verse line sssssssucker during the chorus, which
falls a bit out of place in the song. Next track
“Spirit of the underdog” starts with a short
piano/keyboardintro, then throws in some heavy BLACK
SABBATH guitar riffs, and ends up being a fantastuc
semi-rocker with a good strong melodic chorus, so
definitely one of the highlights of the CD.
“America” is yet another great uptempo melodic
heavy rocker with a modern guitarsound (although John
will probably say it’s classic 70s BLACK SABBATH),
but also good lead vocals of Joey Tempest. Joey seems to
sing rather well on the new album, sometimes unlike his
past and more in the style of his solo songs (such as on
closing track “Settle for love”, a calmer
acoustic semi-ballad), but on the other hand we can also
hear him singing very melodic. Still I need to add that
nowhere on the CD (except maybe on “Hero”) Joey
is actually singing like on the first couple of EUROPE
records. So, the music is sounding modern most of the
time, but still it has a good strong melodic heavy rock
approach, like an updated version of the first 2 EUROPE
albums meets the ‘Prisoners in paradise’
record, so the comparisons to a NICKELBACK (like many
reviews want us to believe) are clearly out of place
here. The best way to describe the new EUROPE CD is that
it’s a mix between the guitar riffs of 70s BLACK
SABBATH, the modern melodic heavy rock of HAREM SCAREM
(last few albums) and the choruses and melodies of EUROPE
circa ‘Prisoners in paradise’. The first 5
songs sound very strong and are actually showing a new
EUROPE that sounds quite impressive! The rest of the CD
is a bit weaker, but not bad at all and towards the end
it gets quite good again actually. However, if
you’re expecting “The final countdown”
part 2, then get outta here, because keyboards and 80s
rocksounds are not included on this new EUROPE CD, but
people who appreciate a good modern sounding melodic
heavy rockalbum will like this a lot. It surely
isn’t as good as the first 4 EUROPE classics, but at
least it’s as good as ‘Prisoners in
paradise’, so I would rate it as the band’s 5th
best studio-album. It’s not a major disappointment,
because the CD has many good songs to offer, but on the
other hand it still isn’t as good as classic EUROPE,
so I am afraid it will not reach the success of their
‘The final countdown’ album. Nevertheless, this
is a good comeback of the legendary Swedish band and now
it’s up to the Swedish band to come treat us with a
concert that gives us not only the new stuff, but also
all the old EUROPE classics!
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
ANTI-DEPRESSIVE
DELIVERY
‘FEEL MELT RELEASE ESCAPE’ (THE LASER’S
EDGE/INTROMENTAL)
This is the debut CD release of the Norwegian band
ANTI-DEPRESSIVE DELIVERY, who are playing a sort of
melodic progressive rock/metal style. What we get to hear
is of a very high level, and is slightly comparable to
EVERYGREY, only without the huge guitarsound (although
the guitars are at the front, the sound is not as big as
EVERGREY). 9 songs are included, and especially
“Coward”, “Penny”, “0” and
“The anti-depressive delivery” are all very
strong modern sounding melodic progressive
rock/metalsongs with an own identity. The band mixes the
mellotron/hammon organ sound of the progressive rock and
70s classic hardrock with the heavy guitarsound of
progressive metal as we know it today. However, the band
is also quite diverse on the Thrash-Metal inspired
“Voyage of no brain discovery” and the groovier
(almost GLENN HUGHES kinda) 70s Funk-Rock orientated
“Path of sorrow”. Concluded, this
ANTI-DEPRESSIVE DELIVERY is not just another progressive
rock/metalband, but a great innovative band with some
interesting ideas around their progressive
rock/metalsound.
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
WHITE
WILLOW
‘STORM SEASON’ (THE LASER’S
EDGE/INTROMENTAL)
‘Storm season’ is the 4th CD of the Norwegian
band WHITE WILLOW. Musically they are a Progressive
Rockband, but especially on their new album they have
mixed it with some other musical influences (Gothic,
Folk, Metal and Jazz), so in the end they sound very
original. The band has a strong female singer, and songs
like “Soulburn”, “Chemical sunset”
and “Nightside of Eden” are very impressive
original progressive rocksongs. WHITE WILLOW has created
an own kind of Progressive Rockstyle, which is quite hard
these days, because there are so many other bands in this
genre out there. Anyway, I can highly recommend this CD
to all Progrock/metalfans, whom are looking for a band
with an own style, because that’s what WHITE WILLOW
is all about.
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
RIVERSIDE
‘OUT
OF MYSELF’ (THE LASER’S EDGE/INTROMENTAL)
Although the bio says this Polish band is sounding like a
mix between OPETH, ANATHEMA and PINK FLOYD, I can still
inform you that the band is a pure Progressive Rockband,
mainly because lead singer (and bassist) Mariusz Duda is
able to sing very well. Sometimes the band sounds like a
more experimental and heavier version of JADIS. 9 tracks
are included in total. Opener “The same river”
is basically a great melodic Neo-Progressive Rocksong,
with a slight dark mystical approach. It’s also one
of the absolute highlights, and with 12 minutes of
running time quite lengthy. Other highlights are the
instrumental ‘Reality dream” (with awesome
keyboardwork), “Loose heart” (very relaxing,
almost like SIMPLE MINDS and FOR ABSENT FRIENDS) and the
instrumental “The curtain falls”. Concluded,
not a bad CD at all, so nice to check out for the
all-round Progressive Rockfan!
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
 LUNATICA ‘FABLES AND
DREAMS’ (FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
Out of Switzerland comes LUNATICA, a band I already
reviewed sometime ago when they released their debut
‘Atlantis’, but now they have released a
follow-up on the FRONTIERS RECORDS label. The CD is
titled ‘Fables and dreams’, and I can inform
you that it’s a very impressive album. The CD was
produced by none-other than SASCHA PAETH (AINA, KAMELOT,
RHAPSODY, ANGRA...), who gave it a huge sound, comparable
to his other productions, so this is without a doubt a
high quality release. Musically this is typical Female
fronted Gothic Melodic Metal in the style of NIGHTWISH,
XANDRIA, LEAVES’ EYES, WITHIN TEMPTATION etc.
Although this might sound like a cliche record, it
definitely is a very strong high quality record which is
basically radio-ready to attack the European charts (in
Switzerland the band is already very successfull).10
songs are included and uptempo melodic rockers like
“Avalon”, “Elements”, “Still
believe”, “Hymn”, “Silent scream
(2004)” (pure NIGHTWISH!!!) and a wonderful ballad
such as “Fable of dreams” are songs that will
be loved by both AOR/Melodic Rock and Gothic Metal fans.
In the end, the band sounds like a perfect mix between
NIGHTWISH, COASTLINE and WITHIN TEMPTATION. The female
lead singer (Andrea Datwyler) has a fantastic voice, and
basically everything sounds perfect, maybe a bit too
polished sometimes, but who cares if the song are
extremely catchy. I highly recommend this CD, once again
to both NIGHTWISH fans and people who appreciate a band
like COASTLINE...
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
BON
JOVI ‘ROCK
LEGENDS DVD’ (WIENERWORLD)
‘Rock legends’ is a very rare DVD release from
BON JOVI, which is actually more a JOB BON JOVI/ALDO NOVA
kinda interview DVD than a BON JOVI DVD. The playing time
says 55 minutes, but it’s actually 39 minutes.
Nevertheless, the footage is very rare and never before
seen, so interesting for die hard BON JOVI and ALDO NOVA
fans. Where’s the link you might think? Well,
that’s easy, because back in the early 90s Jon Bon
Jovi produced and co-wrote the ALDO NOVA album
‘Blood on the bricks’, which was just recently
re-released by the way. This DVD contains mainly footage
of the recording sessions for this ALDO NOVA album, which
was recorded in Canada by the way. There’s an
interview with mostly Jon about his band, past and
present, while also Aldo is able to share some light on
his own career. Between the interviews we can see some
short clips and rare footage of BON JOVI, but like I said
this sure isn’t a pure BON JOVI DVD, but rather a
short Job Bon Jovi/Aldo Nova kinda DVD, so only
interesting for the die-hard fans. You can get a copy of
the DVD through: http://www.wienerworld.com
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
 MILLENIUM ‘THE BEST OF...AND
MORE’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
Looking back at the past of MILLENIUM it is unbelievable
they never released a better record than their amazing
debut CD from 1997. That first album was one of the best
melodic rock releases in 1997, and no album after that
release reached that high level of the fantastic debut
CD. The band was formed by ex-DEATH (!!!) guitarist Ralph
Santolla, who turned the clock back in time on that
wonderful debut CD of MILLENIUM, because this was
prime-time 80s Melodic Rock with big hooks, catchy
choruses, fantastic lead vocals by a guy called TODD
PLANT (who recently sang on that fantastic CRYPIC VISION
record) and that debut also had a fantastic HUGE sound. I
still can not believe why this album wasn’t a big
hit among the melodic rock community. Nevertheles, we are
now 7 years later and FRONTIERS RECORDS give some of the
songs from that debut another chance in the shape of this
2-CD best of set of the American band. Included are 4
tracks from their debut, 6 from ‘Hourglass’ and
8 from ‘Angelfire’, but the most interesting
thing about this release are the 10 unreleased songs on
CD 2,
such as the covers “Jane” (JEFFERSON STARSHIP),
“I surrender” (RAINBOW) and “Love is like
Oxygen” (THE SWEET) and own demos like “Sea of
sadness” and “Rain”. Most of these
unreleased songs are sung by JORN LANDE by the way.
Although the covers are a bit useless, because these are
exactly the kind of songs so many bands/artists cover, it
is nice to hear some decent cover versions of these
classic rocksongs (“I surrender” for example is
performed exactly like RAINBOW recorded it, even the lead
vocals of Jorn sound like JOE LYNN TURNER,
unbelievable!). Anyway, nice to own if you’re a fan
of the band, and for me personally I think this 2-CD set
is more interesting than the recent new MILLENIUM album,
because on this 2-CD set are at least 4 of the
band’s best songs (all from their debut, which I
still rate as a superb highly underrated record!), while
the recent MILLENIUM release was slightly average
(especially the production).
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
 SILVER ‘ADDICTION’
(MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
‘Addiction’ is the third CD of the all-star
band SILVER, a band consisting of a few very well-known
musicians such as Don Airey on keys (DEEP PURPLE,
RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE), Michael Voss on guitars (CASANOVA,
MAD MAX) and lead singer Gary Barden (STATETROOPER, MSG).
Together they recorded a nice melodic rockalbum, which
sounds actually quite different than the standard melodic
rock release. Somehow SILVER reminds me a lot of MAGNUM,
only slightly weaker. The sound is top-notch, and songs
like “Why did you come back”,
“Angeline” and “This is my life” are
nice melodic rockers, but somehow I miss something and
quite a few songs did not convince me at all (“I
saw”, “Finish what you started”).
It’s not an album you immediately fall in love with,
because it’s a melodic rock record with a sort of
80s Goth approach sometimes (bassist is ex-SISTERS OF
MERCY by the way) and it is almost impossible to compare
with, but I think MAGNUM comes close as best comparison.
This is an album that needs to grow, so therefore the
rating should not be taken that serious, as it could be a
winner for some, while others will probably pass...
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
KISS
‘LIVE
IN LAS VEGAS DVD’ (WIENERWORLD)
On the 29th of October, 1999 KISS gave away a performance
in Las Vegas, and this DVD is a nice look back at this
event. Only 4 tracks (live) can be found on this DVD, so
I am not exactly sure if this is the complete broadcast.
Anyway, the bonus footage is quite nice to watch, as this
has not been available anywhere else so far. Some of the
footage features KISS receiving their Star on the
Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and also a few appearances of
Gene and Paul are being shown. Although this is a nice
DVD to watch, I can only recommend it to the die-hard
KISS fans, because it looks (and sounds) very cheap. This
surely isn’t comparable to the usual high quality
KISS DVDs, and also the running time mentioned at the
back is 20 minutes shorter, but still I think a die-hard
KISS fan might want to check out this DVD, just because
of the rare footage to be found on it. You can get a copy
of the DVD through: http://www.wienerworld.com
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
 SAFE HAVEN ‘SAFE HAVEN’
(MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
SAFE HAVEN is the new band/project of lead singer MIKE
VESCARA, who is best known for his vocal duties for
MALMSTEEN, OBSESSION, LOUDNESS, REIGN OF TERROR etc. This
new band takes him into a new direction, because he
usually only did melodic metal stuff, but with SAFE HAVEN
we can hear Mike singing pure 80s AOR (with a very very
strong JOURNEY approach). Some of the ballads included
here, such as “Sorry baby” are dangerously
close to JOURNEY. Although I don’t think Mike’s
vocals are really meant for singing AOR, he does quite
well on the CD, but then again as an AOR fan I need to
inform you that it’s not as good as for example
JOURNEY, FOREIGNER, SURVIVOR... Some of the songs are
good AOR rockers, but at times it goes in one ear and out
the other. Still AOR rockers like “Nothin’ like
this feeling”, “Have faith, believe” and
“Now that your gone” are quite a pleasure to
listen to and are deadringers for the AOR/Melodic
Rockfans out there. The style is very close to that of
other Melodic Rockacts from the past few years (like
SAVANNAH, FINAL FRONTIER, LORD GREY...), so get yourself
copy if this sounds interesting for you, although I am
afraid this isn’t a classic release, but just one of
those nice melodic rock releases done many times before,
so nothing new, but still good enough to play every once
in a while!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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